An analysis of economic data, released on Tuesday, shows company profits have risen by 27.5 per cent in the past year, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) says.
That figure is more than 10 times the rate of wage rises for private sector employees, justifying a union push for significant pay increases in companies that can afford it, the ACTU's secretary Jeff Lawrence said.
Mr Lawrence, in an address to be given at the Australian Industry Group's workplace relations conference in Canberra on Tuesday, highlighted the struggle for ordinary working families.
He said the ABS data shows that half of the Australian workforce, or more than four million people, earnt just $850 a week or less.
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Yet living costs for households have risen by 4.5 per cent, well above the overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the rate of pay rises of most Australian workers in the past year - about 2.7 per cent.
"Workers in the sectors that are growing strongly should be seeing more of the benefits," he said.
"It's clear that the Australian economy has emerged from the global recession in a better position than almost any other developed nation.
"Our unemployment rate is at 5.1 per cent, almost half the rate in the US (9.6 per cent), and substantially lower than the UK (7.8 per cent) and the OECD average (8.5 per cent)."
Mr Lawrence said the wholesale trade, accommodation and food services, and the information, media and telecommunications industries were the main offenders of all sectors in holding down workers' wages in the past year.
